Sorry for the late arrival. The system is acting up again, and we're having it checked out. They're not sure whether it's the tin cans at either end, or the sting connecting them that's the problem. (Oops, don't want to insult the techies out there. We're sure it's a very complicated problem that only a select few humans can understand. We'll just stick to the football. Cheers.)
Giant of the Week: Plaxico Burress. Playing on a bum ankle that’s bothered him all season, Burress finished with seven catches for 93 yards and a touchdown. Ok, so the TD came in garbage time, but the guy played tough all game.
Jet of the week: Oh, boy. When you’ve got punter Ben Graham as the player of the week, you’ve hit the bottom of the barrel. Not that there’s anything wrong with Graham; more like there’s everything wrong with the offense. He had eight punts for a 46.1-yard average, including a 61-yarder.
Offensive player of the week: Here’s a name we haven’t heard much all season: Chad Johnson, the Bengals wide receiver. He finally had a breakout game against a very good Titans defense, finishing with 12 catches for 103 yards and three TDs. After one of them, he took over a television camera, panned the crowd, and trotted back to the bench. The NFL will be taking some coin in fine money for that one, but Johnson doesn’t care.
Defensive player of the week: Patriots CB Asante Samuel. He had a 40-yard interception return for a touchdown early in the first quarter against Philly, and then made a game-clinching pick in late in the fourth quarter to keep the Pats unbeaten.
Special teams player of the week: Matt Bryant, K, Bucc …. Oh, no, we’re not gonna make that mistake again. Sure, Bryant kicked four field goals for the Bucs in their 19-13 win over the Redskins, but it was Bears return man Devin Hester who was the star of the day with a 75-yard punt return for touchdown and an 88-yard kickoff return for touchdown in the third quarter of the Bears’ 37-34 thriller in OT against the Broncos. (Big Ben is Back! I guarantee you started yelling at your computer when you read Bryant's name. "He did it again!!")
Dominating performance award: The Chargers. They beat the Ravens 32-14 behind a strong performance from Philip Rivers, who threw for three TDs and kept the Ravens’ defense from chirping about how good they are.
Understudy award: Eagles QB A.J. Feeley. Subbing for the injured Donovan McNabb, Feeley threw for three TDs and nearly pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the year. The Eagles just fell short in a 31-28 loss, but Andy Reid will have an interesting decision on his hands once McNabb is healthy.
Surprise of the week: The 49ers’ 37-31 overtime win in Arizona. The 49ers had lost eight straight and looked awful in doing so, but they came alive against the Cards, sealing the win with a sack and forced fumble of Kurt Warner in the endzone in OT. Linebacker Tully Banta-Cain, a charter member of the All-Name Team, recovered for the winning touchdown.
Career is all but over award: David Carr, a former No. 1 overall pick, is just about done in Carolina. He was only playing against New Orleans because another former No. 1 pick, 44-year-old Vinny Testaverde, couldn’t play because of a sore back. Carr was benched and replaced with a rookie free agent.
Goat of the Week, Part 1: Eli Manning, QB, Giants. Tied his career high with four interceptions, three of which were returned for TDs.
Goat of the Week, Part 2: Gus Frerotte, QB, Rams. On fourth and goal from the 1 with 27 seconds to play and the Rams trailing Seattle 24-19, Frerotte fumbled the snap and was tackled for a four-yard loss to end the game.
Coach on the hot seat: John Fox, Carolina. We personally think Fox deserves a pass because of his quarterback situation, but team owner Jerry Richardson is not a patient man. What might save Fox: The Panthers are on the hook for about $15 million in salary after this year.
Statistical anomaly of the week: Honestly, we bring back this award because we just wanted to use the word “anomaly.” The winner: The Vikings’ secondary, which came into yesterday’s game against the Giants as the 32nd ranked pass defense with only 13 interceptions in the first 10 games. Against the Giants, they picked off Manning four times and ran back three for scores. Go figure.
Coaching second-guess: Herman Edwards of the Chiefs in the final minutes of yesterday's 20-17 loss to the Raiders. On third-and-5 from the Raiders' 27, Brodie Croyle hit Eddie Kennison for a 4-yard gain, but Edwards challenged the ruling, which was upheld. He lost a timeout as a result, then used another timeout, and then went for it instead of kicking the tying field goal. Edwards has been criticized for being too conservative, but this time, he should have taken the safe route by going for the tying score.
Comments (26)
How could Burress be the Giant of the week?
Eli Manning threw four TD passes!
=/
It looked like Jim Bates was coaching the Broncos' special teams. It's a good thing Shanny learned his lesson from kicking straight down the middle to Dante Hall.
I was at least hoping for Jay Cutler to get this week's Shinning New Star award. His awesome play has pulled me off the ledge, but it yesterday's loss make the playoffs seem like a distant dream.
Glad you didn't pick a Kicker as hero of the week especially since you didn't pick Mr. Miss a 32 yarder in OT as the Goat of the week. Stupid Rackers cost me the "Survivor" title in my office. He owes me $200.
BTW, love the 2 S's in Assante, BG. Guess we know what you really think of the guy, eh?
Bob: Why are the Giants persistent in using Plax at 60% when Armani Toomer is available??? This is really irritating me!
rottweliertom,
What should be bothering you is that the Giants have NO ONE who has any speed at WR now that Plaxico is hurt.
I'm expecting to see Sinorice Moss's picture on a milk carton at Dairy Barn one of these days.
I've been making that mistake with Samuel since his rookie year ... which probably means that the A-s-s doesn't belong in his name, but mine!
Bob,
Herm strikes again eh?
Where was Dick Curl on that clock management stuff? :-)
When are NFL teams going to learn that Herm's time is up?
If Smith comes back (hahahaha), will the Giants finally start reducing Plax's role? I'm impressed he was as productive as he was yesterday, but he's a shell of himself right now, and will be all season. But the Giants don't really have any other options: Moss, Tyree, Hixon?
Time to bring back Chris Calloway
If the Giant's traditional meltdown is in progress, next two games will tell, I hope Fox is fired. I'd love to see him back in the Meadowlands. The high salary bodes well as Panthers would love to be out from under, not place high demands re compensation.
Eli, no, no roles will change. That is the T(urn and) Coughlin/Manning way. Both stubborn, TC will not try anything new unless forced, Eli will not look at a WR other than his security blankets.
Disappointment of the week: The Patriots. Didn't you say that the 23 1/2 spread wasn't big enough? Glad I didn't bet on that one.
Who's going to melt faster award: Bills or Giants?
NKR,
As I'm sitting here watching the Monday night Steelers - 'Fins game, I'm longing for the warm wonderful sun drenched Pittsburgh weather in December... Make me homesick :-)
So, Sewickly Heights girl... care to predict the outcome? :-)
Well, the new sod that they laid at Heinz field isn't doing very well... I think the only one that was excited about the new grass was Ricky Williams :-)
I predict that the Steelers win, 3-0, with a field goal at the end of the 4th quarter.
;)
I long for the 'Fins weather. Rain and temps in the 40s. Ugh.
NKR:
Oh, my. I want you to send me all of your picks for the rest of the year, because you are clearly back on your game.
For the sake of so many of our readers on this blog, thank goodness the Steelers won. Can't imagine what back-to-back losses against the Jets and Dolphins would have done to the likes of Black N Gold, Big Ben is Back!, Steel Curtain et al.
What was that sport last night on ESPN?
It looked as much like football as water polo looks like soccer.
All I can say is the folks at Wembley are officially off the hook for that awful field for Giants-Dolphins. That was like artificial turf compared to the Heinz Field surface.
I can't imagine the Steelers not going to a synthetic surface by next season. Enough already.
According to this mornings Post-Gazette (PG), the Steelers have already spoken to the folks at Milan Puskar stadium, home to the WVU Mountaineers about installing a Duraspine mat.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07331/837057-13.stm
"The Steelers are investigating artificial surfaces, and they might install one at Heinz Field before the start of the 2008 season. They have been particularly interested in the new surface West Virginia University has this year. WVU installed a new generation of FieldTurf this summer called Duraspine at the cost of $901,152. The Steelers sent some of their people to WVU to take a look at the turf."
Good work, B N G. You're hired. You are now the official blog correspondent on this matter.
Bob,
yeah I'm good at Google and repeating what you more intelligent scribes uncover... that ought to earn me at least a doubling of the salary I'm earning right? Now what is 2x Zero again? :-)
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